BARCELONA—In its first big re-haul in two years, MySpace this week is launching a new version of its mobile Web site, in part to reflect the growing demand from users who own more sophisticated phones.
“We really see it as a way for our users to not only experience MySpace on the go, but record and share what they’re doing while they’re out and about,” said John Faith, president and general manager of MySpace Mobile.
The relaunch is designed to create a better experience for end-users as well as advertisers, bringing the mobile site in line with its other mobile offerings.
The mobile Web has made a lot of strides in the past two years, and people expect a richer experience, he said. MySpace expects 50 percent of its traffic will come from mobile devices in the next couple of years.
MySpace also announced plans to develop new applications for Nokia in the S60 Web runtime environment and Palm’s new webOS, first available on the Palm Pre. MySpace says it will be the only social network with applications supported on all smartphone platforms currently active in mobile social networking: iPhone, Google Android, Sidekick, Nokia, Palm and BlackBerry. One missing platform is Microsoft Windows, but Faith said there’s no specific roadblock there; MySpace continues to work with Microsoft on that.
MySpace counts 20 million worldwide members accessing its mobile Web site every month. MySpace’s CEO and co-Founder Chris DeWolfe will present the opening keynote on Thursday at Mobile World Congress.